PREFACE

To Eleazar, the High Priest of the Jews, [King Ptolemy sent a request] that he should send to him, along with a copy of the Law, seventy-two elders—six chosen from each tribe—who excelled not only in other virtues but specifically in the skill of translation. When these letters, accompanied by magnificent gifts, were brought to Jerusalem by Andreas and Aristeas, Eleazar complied with the Egyptian King’s wishes in every respect. He honored the King's envoys, who were wonderfully delighted by the affairs of the Jews, with a copy of the Law written in letters of gold and other gifts for the King in return. He then sent them back to Alexandria with seventy-two highly esteemed men, whose names are specifically recorded. Once the Jews were brought to Alexandria, they were splendidly received by the King. Their wisdom, brilliantly demonstrated during banquets, filled the King with admiration. On the eleventh day after their arrival, they began the translation of the Law. This work was organized such that, under the guidance of Demetrius Demetrius of Phalerum, the royal librarian, they crossed over to the island of Pharos. There, by comparing their individual drafts, they worked toward a perfect agreement on every point and dictated the final version to Demetrius. The work was completed within seventy-two days. A day was then appointed for the translation to be read aloud before the Jews and the Egyptians. After the reading, the Jews themselves praised it highly; furthermore, at the request of Demetrius, they pronounced a curse upon anyone who should alter any part of the text. When these things were done, the King rejoiced and, full of admiration for the Jewish Lawgiver Moses, asked why none of the poets or historians had mentioned such a great work. Demetrius replied that because the Law possessed a unique sanctity, it could not be touched by foreigners without danger; he noted that Theopompus and Theodectes Greek authors had been restrained by divine punishments for attempting to do so. Upon hearing this, the King treated the Law with veneration, ordered the books of the translators to be religiously preserved, and sent the translators back to their homeland adorned with royal gifts.

II. This, then, is the summary of the Letter of Aristeas. Now, after Aristeas, the Jewish philosopher Aristobulus—a contemporary of Ptolemy Philometor ¹)—made mention of the Greek translation of the books of the Law. According to the testimony of Clement and Eusebius ²), while [he was discussing] the whole...

1. Regarding the age of Aristobulus, one should consult Valckenaer in his discourse on Aristobulus the Jew, etc., 1806, page 27 and following. He treats the error of Anatolius found in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History 7, 32 on page 24 and following.

2. As Eusebius testifies in Preparation for the Gospel IX, 6 (Gaisford edition, vol. II, p. 356) and XIII, 12 (Gaisford edition, vol. III, p. 310), Aristobulus wrote the following: original Greek: "Φανερὸν ὅτι κατηκολούθηκεν ὁ Πλάτων..." "It is evident that Plato followed our legislation, and it is clear that he carefully studied each of the things said in it. For it [the Law] had been translated by others before Demetrius of Phalerum, even before the supremacy of Alexander and the Persians—specifically the parts concerning the exodus of the Hebrews (our fellow citizens) from Egypt, the fame of all the events that befell them, the conquest of the land, and the detailed explanation of the entire Law... but the complete translation of all the contents of the Law was made in the time of [King Philadelphus]..."